Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Ladybug , Ladybug ...

The first thing I noticed was the sound of pinging on the windows. When I looked out the window , I noticed a great number of lady bugs on the glass. A walk around the house showed me that all the windows had ladybugs on them. When I looked out over the garden I could see even more. The air was filled with ladybugs like a school experiment on Brownian movement.

A trip outside showed that the lady bugs were all over the house, not just on the windows. These were on just one corner of the foundation.Now we have them inside the house too, since they land on you and catch a ride inside.

I wondered just what kind of lady bugs I had swarming all over, but they do not seem to be all the same. My book lists a two-spot, seven-spot, nine-spot and no-spot -nine-spot lady bug. Two of these have more than nine spots. The other one is almost spotless, but not quite. All of them are supposed to be aphid eaters. They all have the aroma that I remember as a kid. For now I think I'll leave the ones that came inside. They can check my indoor plants for their dinner.

Those are probably Multicolored Asian lady beetles (Harmonia axyridis), they can be pests in cold climates because they like to overwinter indoors. I understand that when disturbed or squashed they can emit a foul odor and can leave stains.

Michelle you are so right. They are Multicolored Asian Lady beetles.You can read what the USDA has to say about them at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/lbeetle/#mixed An imported beneficial,they do a great job of keeping pests off pecan trees.Maybe they will work on my hazelnuts. Apparently my white house is like a big bug light to them. The word is vacuum don't squish, they leave smelly stains.